WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the largest gun-control organization in the United States, announced Monday it elected a new president.
Youth anti-violence advocate Daniel Gross, who co-founded and is executive director of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence, was elected to succeed Paul Helmke, a lawyer and former mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., who stepped down July 10, as head the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center, the center said in a release.
"Jim and I have known Dan ever since he founded CPYV. Dan personally understands that there are too many victims of gun violence in America, and he has dedicated himself to doing something demonstrable about it," Sarah Brady said.
She is chairwoman of the Brady organizations named after her husband Jim Brady, the press secretary who was shot by John Hinckley Jr. in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan.
"Jim and I look forward to working with him to continue our mission to keep guns out of the wrong hands."
Gross co-founded the Center to Prevent Youth Violence in 1998, a year after his brother, Matthew, sustained a gunshot injury to his head.
"Jim and Sarah are role models for what passion, perseverance, and sustained public engagement can accomplish," Gross said. "I am honored to follow in their footsteps and build on everything that they and this iconic organization have accomplished. It is my fervent hope to create even greater and more measurable progress toward saving lives on my watch."
